


The Adventures of Sam Chow: International Pup of Mystery

by ZaliaChimera



Category: Zombies Run!
Genre: Alternate Universe, Cute, Dogs, Gen, Humor, Laboratories, Rescue, Research, Talking Animals, Zombie Apocalypse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-12
Updated: 2014-11-12
Packaged: 2018-02-25 01:58:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,248
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2604383
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZaliaChimera/pseuds/ZaliaChimera
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>While out on a sweep of the town, an unusual apocalypse survivor is brought back to Abel. Minor spoilers for Sam's arrival at abel (S3M16)</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Adventures of Sam Chow: International Pup of Mystery

The city had emptied out a little since the outbreak had first begun. The hostiles were still present, but not in such numbers that going in to sweep for survivors was an immediate death sentence.

The numbers of survivors that they picked up was dwindling each time; the last group had been almost decimated in Abel’s quarantine area when one of the survivors had lied about being bitten. It had been horrible.

The Corporal was scouting the area on the outskirts of the city; some testing facility for Pandora Haze that looked secure enough that someone might have tried to hole up inside the chain link fence. Nothing so far, just bodies, all mutilated in one way or another. Poor sods.

There was a muffled whimpering sound from the bin against the wall. A very human sound.

“Is someone in there?” the Corporal called, gun firmly in hand as they took a step towards the bin. They gestured to the other soldiers to hold back, but all of them were watchful and on guard. The hostiles were everywhere. “Come out with your hands up.”

“Oh my god, you’re not… not like the dead people?”

The voice was male and sounded painfully young and scared.

The Corporal sighed and lowered their weapon, taking a step towards the bin. “No. We’re military. Come to help. You need to come out of there. Are you bitten?”

“No. Promise?”

“We promise. Just no sudden movements.”

“Alright.”

There was nothing for a long moment and then a large bedraggled dog popped it’s head over the side of the bin and gave them a beseeching look. It must have been very fluffy at one point, but now it was soaked through, fur plastered down, and bits of rubbish matting its fur. It whined softly.

The Corporal raised an eyebrow and took another step. The kid’s pet? Some people had tried to keep hold of them. “Come on out kid. We can’t help you if you stay in there.”

“But… but I’m here!”

“I need to see you.”

The dog huffed and shook itself before jumping out of the bin and coming over to sit at the Corporal’s feet, looking up.

“Oh for…” The Corporal stepped around the dog to go over to the bin and peered into it to look for the kid.

There was no-one there. Not even enough rubbish for someone to hide under. The corporal backed away, checked beneath it, but still there was no-one.

That dog was still watching.

“What’re you looking for? I’m here!”

The Corporal jerked, turning quickly to look at where the voice had come from and came face to face with the dog, its tongue lolling happily.

What was going on?

“Did you…?” No, this was crazy. It was a dog. Dogs didn’t speak.

To be fair, a couple of weeks ago the dead hadn’t walked either, and yet here they were.

The dog wagged its tail.

“You know I hate to be pushy but… there’s dead people coming. They smell dead. It’s pretty gross.”

The Corporal was pretty sure that they were going insane. Dogs just didn’t talk. But that was where the voice was coming from. The only place. It wasn’t wearing a radio device either, nothing someone could be using to trick them. “What-”

“Corporal!” one of the men called. “We’ve got hostiles approaching. We need to get back to the transport.”

They couldn’t take a dog back with them. They barely had enough supplies for the refugees who were still flooding in.

The Corporal started walking away. The dog followed. The dog also whined softly and when the Corporal glanced back, it looked thoroughly, utterly, dejected.

“I’ll be really quiet,” the dog said, giving a hopeful wag of its tail.

One of the soldiers, Jones, gave the dog a wide-eyed look and that cinched it. “Alright,” The Corporal said. “Heel.”

The dog yapped happily and trotted alongside them.

—————

“Are you quite mad Corporal?” Janine de Luca said once they’d cleared medical and been allowed back into the township. “We’re in the middle of the greatest disaster to befall humanity and you bring back a _dog_?”

“But it… ma’am, I don’t think it’s a normal dog.”

“It looks quite normal to me,” she said, looking down at the dog, barely more than a pup really, that was wagging its tail near the Corporal’s feet. “What is so special about it that it’s worth wasting supplies on it?”

“Well ma’am, it can… it can talk ma’am.”

To her credit, she didn’t immediately fly off the handle. The downside being that the icy glare was probably worse than anger would have been. “Have you hit your head? I think you should report to medical for an evaluation. I understand the stress inherent in-”

“Oh, that’s unfair,” the dog said.

Janine blinked. Janine stared. “I beg your pardon?”

The dog wagged its tail, giving her a doggy smile. “I don’t eat that much, although if you’ve got some Marmite, I wouldn’t say no.”

“Corporal,” Janine said, her expression carefully neutral, “please fetch Major de Santa.”

“Yes ma’am.”

—————

“So you can talk,” The Major said, looking down at the dog which Janine had ushered into her kitchen. Janine wasn’t entirely sure how the Major was managing to look so calm, but it was certainly an admirable ability that she possessed.

“Well, yeah,” the dog said, raising one leg to scratch its ear until it caught Janine’s stern look and lowered it sheepishly. At least the dog seemed to be well trained. “Obviously. Why?”

“I’m afraid that I’m not used to dogs being able to talk. You’ll have to forgive me if I’m a little sceptical.”

The dog tilted its fluffy head to one side, giving the Major a curious look. In as much as dogs could give any kind of look. “You’re not? But…”

It gave a whine that was purely pitiful. Despite her better instincts, Janine reached down to pat it. She’d always had a bit of a soft spot for the farm dogs her parents had kept, although even then she had been very clear that they were working animals and not pets. The dog nuzzled against her hand, tongue lolling.

“How is it that you are able to talk?” The Major asked.

“Well I thought it was just what dogs did. Dad and the other researchers said… I dunno. I got bored.” It huffed, seeming to slump a little. “I guess that does explain why the new dogs didn’t speak. I thought they were just nervous.”

“Researchers?” the Major said, her interest piqued. “The Corporal did find you outside a Pandora Haze lab. Is that where you came from?”

“Yeah!” the dog said, perking up, the word trailing into a soft bark of excitement. “I lived there. They did all sorts of tests and stuff, but then dad and mum got sick,” it said, whining softly. “They smelled bad, smelled dead and I… I was a bad dog. But I was scared.”

Janine curled her fingers into the soft fur, scratching idly behind its ears. That seemed to calm it a little.

“I see,” the Major said, a thoughtful look on her face. “You could be very useful if you remember anything about that lab. Tell me, do you have a name?”

The dog looked up, tail twitching a little. “Subject B-733,” it said. “But mum called me Sam. Her name was Yao, if that helps?”

“Very well. Sam Yao. Welcome to Abel Township.”


End file.
